Chapter 28: Scheduling the Curriculum (3/9)

“Let us establish the result first, and then prove it,” the doll in Liu Ling’s arms said slowly. “That way, we can minimize the time wasted along the way.”

“Time?” Liu Mengchao looked at the girl, who did not even reach his shoulder. “We should not be short of time right now.”

“No, we are very short of time. Finding evidence that Zhang Han is the dead person will take some time. At the very least, we need to visit two places.”

“Two?”

Liu Ling nodded slowly. “One of them is the teachers’ office.”

Before Liu Mengchao could react, she turned and walked out.

Her coffee-brown shoes stepped onto the coffee-brown floor, making a soft tapping sound that rang slowly in Liu Mengchao’s ears like musical notes.

“The teachers’ office?”

Liu Mengchao smiled and shook his head, then followed behind her.

The teachers’ office at Nightview North Middle School was not large. After all, it was merely a public school in a small town. Each grade had only five classes.

They climbed the stairs to the second floor and continued to the very end of the corridor. That was where the teachers’ office was located.

“We are not going in?”

Liu Mengchao raised an eyebrow and looked at Liu Ling, who had stopped in place.

“I am worried someone might be inside.”

“What does it matter if someone is there?”

Liu Mengchao shook his head and knocked on the door.

Knock, knock.

No one came to open it, and no one answered from within.

“See? Things are not necessarily as bad as you imagine. Or perhaps we are simply lucky.”

As he spoke, Liu Mengchao pushed open the door to the third-year teachers’ office.

“As expected, everyone is gone.”

Holding the doll in her arms, Liu Ling entered and looked around the empty office.

“Liu Mengchao, we can begin searching for evidence now.”

“What evidence?”

As Liu Mengchao spoke, he walked over to an unoccupied desk and sat down. He bent over and gently blew across its surface.

The dust on the desk immediately swirled into the air.

Liu Mengchao waved a hand to keep himself from inhaling too much dust, then dragged his index finger across the desktop.

His fingertip was covered in dust, and a deep line had been left across the desk.

“It seems no one has sat here for quite some time,” Liu Mengchao said with a frown. “This is Reiko Mikami’s desk.”

As he spoke, he pointed toward the photograph resting on the desktop.

It was a framed photograph.

The picture showed a family of four.

An older-looking sister stood beside a younger girl, while their parents stood on either side with benevolent smiles on their faces.

“This is…”

Liu Ling walked up to the photograph and examined it closely.

“Reiko Mikami, and her elder sister, who is already dead.”

“Mm.”

Liu Mengchao nodded and continued, “She also feels deeply guilty toward her sister. At least, if she were filled with gratitude, she would not have left the entire frame here.”

“Where would she have put it?”

“That is not the important point.”

Liu Mengchao smiled at Liu Ling.

“We still have to find the evidence you mentioned. Do you think we can afford to waste time like this?”

Liu Ling did not answer. All she gave Liu Mengchao was the back of her head and her swaying black hair.

“One, two, three, four…”

She counted the desks in the office one by one.

“Counting Reiko Mikami’s desk, there are fifteen in all.”

“Do you think an extra desk and chair might have appeared out of nowhere?”

Liu Ling nodded.

“Perhaps. That is why I need you to do one more thing.”

“What?”

“Go check the office next door.”

The office next door?

Liu Mengchao raised an eyebrow, then understood what Liu Ling meant.

Since each grade in the school had five classes, the number of homeroom teachers for each grade should likewise be fixed.

Once he realized this, Liu Mengchao acted immediately.

In three quick strides, he climbed out through the office window.

“What are you doing?” Liu Ling cried out in surprise.

“What am I doing?”

Clinging to the edge of the window, Liu Mengchao moved along the sill like a spider.

“Obviously, I am checking the other offices.”

With that, Liu Mengchao shifted sideways into the office next door.

It was the second-year teachers’ office.

Carefully, Liu Mengchao poked his head out and observed the room.

Two teachers were still seated at their desks, chatting.

“One, two… twenty-four.”

As he counted, a smile quietly appeared on his lips.

There was indeed one extra desk in the third-year office.

With a sharp click, Liu Mengchao pushed off hard with his right foot and moved farther to the right. At that moment, he was like Spider-Man, using both hands and feet to race along the windowsill.

“This is the first-year office.”

Liu Mengchao let out a quiet sigh of relief. Fortunately, all three grades were on the same floor. If they had not been, he would have had to climb another flight of stairs, and that would have taken considerably more effort.

There was no one inside.

With a soft click, he pushed open the window. Rainwater immediately poured through the gap and into the office.

Liu Mengchao braced himself against the frame with both hands and flipped into the room.

On the nearest desk lay a stack of papers still being graded, every page covered in vivid red crosses.

Suddenly, a chart caught Liu Mengchao’s attention.

It was a timetable.

The classes were densely arranged from Monday through Friday.

Liu Mengchao frowned as he examined the entries.

Japanese language—the subject Japanese students studied in place of language arts. Beside it was the name of the teacher, Yuki Haneda. There was mathematics as well, a subject whose name was identical to the one used back home.

Next came science, taught by a single teacher named Masao Kosaka. He looked like a stern man.

Liu Mengchao had lost patience with the remaining entries. He merely glanced over the subject names: social studies, technical and home economics, meaning the combination commonly known as domestic science and practical skills, followed by music and art, his least favorite subjects.

“This…”

Liu Mengchao picked up the timetable and frowned.

“This is equivalent to homeroom, integrated studies, and moral education back home. It is held once a week, with the subjects rotating.”

Click.

Before Liu Mengchao could even catch his breath, the office door suddenly opened.

In an instant, he ducked down and avoided the gaze of the person entering.

“Hey, it is only a few days into May, and four people have already died. Once this year is over, I think I will transfer to another school. The curse of Class 3-3 is truly terrifying.”

“Indeed. Who could disagree?”

There were two people.

Holding his breath, Liu Mengchao moved slowly while listening to the two teachers’ conversation.

“By the way, is this your first year teaching Japanese language, Mr. Haneda?”

“Ah…”

The teacher named Haneda paused strangely, as though he had suddenly gone blank.

“I think I taught Japanese language last year as well. Let me look. I remember I kept my lesson plans from back then.”

Another rustling sound followed.

“Ah, I cannot find them. Perhaps I threw them somewhere else.”

“Same here. I remember having a piece of artwork, but I cannot find it now either. My memory has gotten worse. I have even forgotten who gave it to me.”

“Would you like to go outside for a walk? It is rare to have rain like this. Enjoying the rainy scenery can be quite pleasant.”

“Mr. Qifeng, you certainly know how to enjoy life.”

The other teacher sounded rather tempted.

Bang.

The door closed.

Only then did Liu Mengchao cautiously raise his head from his hiding place. He glanced at the timetable still clutched in his hand, pushed open the office door, and returned to the room next door.

The third-year teachers’ office.

“How did it go?” The doll in Liu Ling’s arms spoke the moment he entered.

“There are fourteen desks and chairs. As expected, there is one extra.”

Liu Mengchao sat down as he spoke.

“But have you considered another possibility? Perhaps an exchange teacher joined the school this year, so they specially added a desk and chair to the third-year office.”

“No.”

The doll in Liu Ling’s arms shook its head.

“That is not what I am looking for. You should have found it already—the second-year timetable.”

“Mm.”

With a sharp slap, Liu Mengchao spread the second-year timetable across the desk.

“I found something interesting too.”

As she spoke, Liu Ling bent down and dragged a large box out from beneath Reiko Mikami’s desk.

“Examination papers?”

“Yes. Japanese language and mathematics papers.”

Liu Ling kicked the box, and the papers inside spilled out with a loud rustle.

“And I found this as well…”

Liu Mengchao followed the direction of Liu Ling’s finger.

A folder lay open on Reiko Mikami’s desk.

A pristine timetable was clipped inside it.